BEST NEW EDM: MERK & KREMONT - HANDS UP (FEAT DNCE)

You won't be able to freeze with the electrofunk of "Hands Up" by Merk and Kremont, featuring DNCE!

Milan, Italy's well known for influencing the shapes, colors, and textures of the fashion conscious with their elegant, European sensibilities, abundance of talented designers, and proliferation of runway shows. This season, the music world will also be shaped by Milanese sensibilities in light of a brand-new single from DJ/producer duo Merk and Kremont.

Merk and Kremont are longstanding veterans of the global music underground, releasing high-profile remixes since 2011 and an endless battalion of singles since 2012. Despite their prodigious, prolific clip, "Hands Up" is still a cause for celebration, as it's only their second single of 2018, thus far. And it's a banger!

MERK & KREMONT - HANDS UP (FEAT DNCE)

"Hands Up" follows a similar template of revisionist retro-rock as recent Bruno Mars, as well as the more organic turn of recent Chemical Brothers. It also has a similar rigid, funky, jerky charm to Daft Punk, but more organic, funkier, more swinging. This is the sound of breakdancing robots, and cybernetic soul. As we've learned from Blade Runner, the machines are funkier and more soulful than the Humans, often, these days.

On "Hands Up", Merk and Kremont team up with LA's funky electro-rockers DNCE. This is a match made in Ibiza, as both groups are at the height of their powers but are relatively new to releasing high-profile, fully-realized statements. DNCE has only released one album so far, 2016's acclaimed self-titled LP. Their listenership no doubt got a boost following a track on last year's The Lego Batman Movie soundtrack.

Merk and Kremont have a similar pulling power, despite the fact that they have yet to release a proper full-length. The band dropped a photo of the "Hands Up" release party the day after the single dropped, showing a rapturous, capacity club crowd. The single got a premier on People Magazine, as well. That's a lot of hype behind a band that hasn't even released an official album-length statement. Of course, we here at We Are: The Guard understand dance music operates under a different rule of law than other genres. So much of the action happens in the clubs, on whitelabels, remixes, on the radio, and dropped straight to Soundcloud. It's another reason you've got to pay attention, lest things slip past you. We Are: The Guard have got you covered, so have no fear! We never stop digging and curating. 

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.